Facing Fear
by gawilliams
Summary: Bones faces her fears and desires as she talks with Booth immediately after the Season 3 Finale.
1. Chapter 1

_I thought of this as I watched the finale of Season 3 again the other night on the DVD box set. I hope this works for everyone. Tell me what you think._

_Disclaimer: I don't own, or profit from, these characters or franchise in any way. No copyright infringement is intended._

"_I took a bullet for you!_" Booth had said as he stood up in his bathtub angrily responding to what Bones had said.

That had been just a couple of days before, and now she was here at the Jeffersonian sitting next to him on a staircase. Everyone was in pain over what had happened to Zack, what he had become. When all of his most precious possessions turned out to be things that everyone had gotten him over the years, she had felt horrified that she had not given him anything. Now, once again, Booth was here saving her. This time it was her soul, if she believed in that awkward concept. Considering the emotional turmoil that she was going through, and had been ever since Booth had been shot and supposedly killed, she was beginning to really believe in a soul. Hers was shattered and yet, he had taken another bullet for her. This time he wasn't facing death, but he was facing her pain and suffering. He had shown her the gift she had given Zack: a home.

"Would things have been different for him if I had been a different kind of person?" she asked softly. She had her head leaning on Booth's shoulder and she felt a real comfort from it.

"No Bones," Booth replied, suddenly feeling inadequate to deal with that kind of statement, but he also knew that he was the only person she trusted enough to open up to like that. Not even Angela was privy to a lot of her innermost feelings like he was.

"He wanted someone to be proud of him," she choked out. How could Zack have not known that she was so proud of him and all that he had achieved since she had met him?

"He had some problems, Bones," Booth told her. "Ever since he came back from Iraq."

"What do you mean?" she asked. What did Booth know?

"When he came back he talked to me," Booth explained. "A lot. He saw things that no one should ever have to. That, on top of what the Army told him really damaged him. I really hoped that he was moving forward and coping, but I guess he wasn't."

"Why didn't he try and talk to any of the rest of us, too?" she tried to understand.

"Because I've been in war, Bones, and none of the rest of you have," he tried to make her understand. He knew she was about to protest that she had also seen some horrible things, but he nipped it in the bud. "Seeing the after effects of war and actually having been in it, or near it while ongoing are two different things. I've pulled the trigger on people in war. He felt that I could understand. I really tried to help him Bones."

"Can you take me home, Booth?" she asked quietly. "I need to get away from here."

"Anything you need, Bones, I'm here for you," he assured her. He felt her simply nod in return.

Bones had been in the large tub she had in her bathroom for nearly half an hour when she felt she needed some company. She'd insisted that Booth stay for a while, and he was currently watching TV on the new television she had bought for when he was over.

"Booth?" she called out loudly.

"Yeah?" he asked from right outside the bathroom door a moment later.

"Could you come in here?" she asked. "I want some company."

"Bones?" came the very nervous voice she had expected.

"To talk, Booth. Come talk to me," she told him. She smiled for the first time that evening. She'd seen him naked, after all, when she'd barged into his bathroom the other day. It was only fair that he had the same latitude, so to speak. Besides, she was comfortable with Booth, even if he did have some rather Puritanical sensibilities regarding sex and the human body. She was very comfortable with her own body. She saw the bathroom door open a bit and watched him peer around it. "Will you just get in here?" she demanded.

"Are you sure you're okay with me being in here, Bones?" Booth asked as he took a seat on the toilet after putting down the lid. He tried not to look at her since she had no bubbles, just clear, hot water.

"It's fine, Booth," she assured him. "I've seen you before, haven't I?"

Booth chuckled as he remembered the other day in his bathroom. "Yeah, you sure have," he admitted. "Are you still mad at me?" he asked, still not looking at her.

"Booth, look at me," she directed him. She saw him lift his head and knew he had just had a really good view of the front of her body. She didn't cover up since she wanted him to know that what she was about to say was not about what she was feeling right now. The fact that she felt comfortable telling him this in this setting would be all the more symbolic. "I wasn't mad at you. I was scared."

"Scared?" he asked. He could admit that it made a bit of sense, but he had been forced to react to the anger she had been displaying up until they had figured out that Zack had been the Gormagon's new assistant.

"When we were told that you died, I shut down," she told him. "I became the same person you met a few years ago. No emotion, nothing but work. You had become the most important person in my life, Booth, and then you were gone. It was like losing my family all over again, and I was terrified that I wouldn't make it this time, or if I did, I wouldn't be able to ever be close to anyone ever again."

Booth mentally cursed Sweets. He was definitely going to have a 'chat' with the little shit in the near future and let him know just how pissed he was over what he had done. Maybe Bones didn't want to slug him, but Booth had no such reluctance. It may cost him a temporary suspension, but it was worth it. No one hurts his Bones and gets away with it. He noticed how he had phrased that in his mind and admitted it openly to himself, though he had known for a long time that he was in love with her. He turned his attention back to Bones.

"Each night I would come home and I couldn't stop replaying the whole scene in my mind," she continued. Her voice hitched a bit as she saw him laying on the floor of the club as she begged him to not give up and stay with her. "I cried myself to sleep every time and when I woke up, I would have to drag myself up to go to work. I wasn't really living anymore, Booth."

Booth didn't know what to say. He was in agony that she had gone through that. He just kept his eyes riveted to hers as she talked.

"I even prayed," she admitted very reluctantly. She saw the look of wide eyed surprise on his face. She had told him over and over that she didn't believe in God. She still didn't, but she had been pretty desperate when she thought he had died. "I don't know if I actually believed it would do any good, if there is a God, but I prayed that he would recognize just how good a person you are and honor that, despite how you feel about some of the things in your life. If there is a Heaven, I wanted to try and make sure that you had a place in it, since I couldn't have you here with me."

Now her anger made all the sense in the world to him. Bones was an incredibly independent person. Because he hadn't made damn sure she had been contacted, or made the contact himself, law and protocol be damned, she had been reduced to what for her would have been desperation if she was actually praying for his soul. He only hoped that the Big Guy upstairs was impressed, because he himself sure was.

"You prayed for me?" he said, his astonishment, as well as his honest thanks, apparent in his voice.

Bones nodded shyly. She shifted in the water because it was getting uncomfortable laying in that position. The movement jostled the water a bit and her new position was a bit more up on the back of the tub, placing her in a semi-reclining position. His eyes almost popping out was amusing for her as she realized that her breasts were now almost totally on display without even the nearly non-existent cover the water provided. It wasn't embarrassing as she had let him see her full length under the clear water, but she was giving him a bit more to feast his eyes on. She felt her nipples tighten in the coolness of the open air, but she also knew damn well it was from arousal, too. She'd come to some serious realizations in the last couple of weeks, no matter how much she denied anything to Angela and anyone else. Chief among them was that she was in love with Booth, regardless of how illogical and irrational she found the concept of love. The fact remained, though, that she was. Regardless of how much she needed to tell him of her own anguish, she wanted to begin a serious commitment to him this very night.

Booth gulped as he saw her movements. He had fantasized about seeing her naked many times, and had confessed to the impure thoughts more times than he could count. He was dead certain that his priest was ready to have a stroke over the unbelievable amount of times that he had come to confession over thinking of Bones. Now here was Bones, naked, and she had just fully exposed her breasts to his eyes without the water to hinder a clear view. He offered a silent prayer to God for getting it right when he made Bones. Man did he get it right! Booth almost had a stroke himself as he saw Bones pick up a sponge and squirt some liquid soap on it before using that sponge on her arms and shoulders. Holy shit! Bones was going to wash in front of him, too! He made a mental note to hightail it to confession in the morning. If he was going to have a stroke, then his priest could, too. He had never thought it possible to be jealous of an inanimate object until now, but he was of a fucking sponge.

Bones was being very deliberate in her actions now. What had started out as simply wanting company and showing Booth how open she wanted to be with her thoughts, symbolically, was now more in the nature of slow seduction. She was well aware of how she wanted this evening to end, and she was working towards that: making love to Booth in her bed. To many it may seem as is she was wanting some release to get her mind away from the hell of the last two weeks, but in reality she was making the move to remove those lines that she had allowed him to draw a couple of years before, and making the attempt to have a real, and honest, relationship with him. Booth had shown that he would not make the move himself, even though he wanted the same thing she did. She wasn't as clueless as everyone thought she was. She'd simply followed his lead waiting for him to make the first move. No more of that, though!

"Do you think we will be able to visit Zack?" she asked quietly as she began to use the soapy sponge on her breasts. She drew out the sight, making sure he had his attention riveted on her movements.

Booth's jaw was about on the floor and he could have sworn he was drooling. This was the God damn hottest thing he'd ever seen. If she was doing what he was slowly beginning to think she was doing, then he was sure that he would be going to confession for impure thoughts and acts every day for the rest of his life. Screw the once a week stuff.

"Booth?" she said loudly with a grin on her face. She was very amused at his flustered demeanor. She knew he wasn't a prude, but she also knew that she had a much more varied sexual history than him. The whole issue of role playing came to mind as one example.

"Huh?" he jerked his eyes to hers.

"I asked if you think we'll be able to visit Zack?" she repeated.

"I'm not sure," he told her honestly. He hoped for her sake that the answer would be yes. She needed to be able to spend time with Zack and tell the kid some of the things she felt she could have done better. "I'll talk to Caroline in the next few days to make sure and if need be start any process that needs to be done."

"Will Sweets interfere with the _non compus mentus _issue?" she asked. She'd been shocked when Sweets had objected to that part of the deal that Caroline had made with Zack. She wasn't angry with him since he was only doing his professional job in that, but she had been saddened.

Booth shook his head. "No," he replied. "I had a talk with Sweets and he knows to keep his opinions to himself on this one and what's expected of him." He made sure to remind himself to add that little point in his 'chat' with Sweets when he confronted him later on. A little reminder of who that bit of silence was for was definitely in order. Bones would be devastated if Zack wound up in prison.

Bones slid under the water and washed the soap off. When she reemerged she loved the dazed expression on Booth's face as he watched her. This was fun! She pulled the plug on the bath and stood up in front of him like he had done for her a couple of days before. Grabbing a towel she dried her hair briskly and then wrapped the towel around her hair before grabbing another one and slowly drying off her body.

Booth was convinced that Bones was deliberately trying to give him a heart attack. He was less than six inches from her sinfully naked body. He wondered briefly if there was a dial-a-confession line that he could make use of. Her scent, both natural and the scented bath oils she had used, was intoxicating and he was having even more difficulty controlling a certain piece of his anatomy. When she had the towel she was drying herself off wrapped around her, she stepped from the tub and left the bathroom, giving him a look that said follow her. He jumped up and went after her, going into the living room where she pointed him to the couch. He took a seat as she opened a bottle of wine and poured them each a glass. He took the one she offered him and almost came unglued when she sat down right next to him with her whole side pressed against him, her head leaning against his shoulder. He took a deep calming breath.

"Uh, Bones?" he asked. He knew he would sound like a complete idiot, but he didn't dare assume anything with Bones. She could kick his ass in a flash, and she had a nasty right cross that he was still feeling the effects of from when she slugged him at his staged funeral.

"Hmm?" she replied with a small smile. She knew he was finally going to ask what she was doing. She'd been patiently waiting since she had called him into the bathroom.

"What's going on here?" he asked directly. He prayed right then that it was what he thought, or he was going to be taking a very long ice cold shower when he got home.

"What do you mean?" she teased, though she said it in her most serious of voices.

"Are you trying to seduce me?" he asked very carefully.

"Yes."

Booth almost dropped his wine glass in shock. No long winded speeches on the anthropological aspects, and no remarks about lines. "Yes?" he asked.

She nodded. "I learned a lot of things in the last couple of weeks," she told him. "The most important thing is that I need you, and not just as my partner and best friend. I want all of you, Booth. The bathtub was only to let you know that I was being completely honest about what the two weeks had done to me. The little show when I washed and dried myself was to let you know I wanted more from our relationship."

"What about all that stuff about monogamy being unnatural and inhibiting?" he questioned.

"I was wrong when it comes to us," she informed him. She was not about to alter her views on the subject, but a caveat here or there was acceptable. "I want to try and break the laws of physics, Booth. With you, and only you."

"You're in love with me?" he asked. Again a dumb question, but she had been almost blasphemously blunt about her opinion on the concept of love. Blasphemously to him anyway. But this was Bones, so he had been able to overlook it in her case. She could break most of the commandments and he would overlook it. Except for adultery, of course. Then he would reclaim her and kill the bastard she was with. Call him a possessive Alpha Male Neanderthal, but he couldn't live without her, either.

Bones nodded. "Yes," she said as she put her wine glass down and wrapped her left arm over his abdomen and hugged him tightly. "Do you love me?" she asked with a certain amount of fear. She had a lot of fear where Booth was concerned when it came to his feelings and opinion of her. That's why this night was so important to her. She was facing her fears once and for all. Fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of abandonment, and, most of all, fear of being alone.

"I have for a long time, Bones," he said softly as if saying it in a normal tone would somehow break the moment. He felt her move up towards his face and he turned his head and kissed her, allowing her to deepen the kiss as much as she wanted. His tongue accepted hers as she tasted him and explored, and then he did the same with her. He finally pulled back.

"What?" she asked a little breathlessly. She was incredibly turned on and wanted nothing more than to drag him to her bedroom and make love all night. She was a bit startled that her mind told her making love and not simply sex, but she realized that with Booth it would never be simply sex, even their first time together.

He sighed and thought that if anyone should be nominated for sainthood it should be him right at this moment. "This isn't the right time for this," he told her. He prayed that she would let him explain and not kick his ass.

Bones looked at him astonished. How could he say that with all that had been said and how the evening had gone? Had she done something wrong? Did he not want her as much as she wanted him? "Why not?" she asked. She kept her arm over his torso and made small circles with her nails. Not enough to arouse necessarily, but easily enough to tantalize.

"Because if we slept together tonight it would be incredible, but for all the wrong reasons," he said with some real confidence. "I do love you, and want this, but I also want to be able to look at you when we make love for the first time and not have the emotional baggage we both have right now."

Bones nodded slightly. There certainly was a lot of baggage. She still was trying to deal with his fake death and also what had happened with Zack. She also felt a warm feeling inside when he had essentially said that when they finally shared a bed, intimately, he wanted to be able to focus solely on her, and she him, without all the other issues. "I think I understand," she said after a long moment to process what he'd told her.

"I don't want to fall back to where we were, though," he told her. "It kills me to see you dating someone, and knowing that you're sleeping with them."

"I was hiding," she admitted. "When I realized a few months after we started working together that I wanted more, but you drew that line, I used the dating and sex to hide from my feelings for you. I've always been uninhibited when it comes to sex, Booth, and it lets me feel alive since I had nothing else in my life. I didn't know what else to do, but I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I can't argue with you on that since I pretty much did the same," he replied.

"Are we really a couple now, Booth?" she asked cautiously.

"Yeah, Bones, we are," he answered with a tighter squeeze to her shoulders.

"What do we do now?" she asked him. Her plans on winding up in bed with him for some mind blowing sex were now shot for this night, but she also didn't want him leaving.

"I'd like to take you out on a real date," he informed her. "Any place you want. I'd also like to spend more time with you like this. Just us talking. We've always been honest with each other except for our feelings for each other. We need to change that."

"Can we talk tonight?" she asked. "I don't really want to be alone right now, and talking sounds good. That is unless you want to reconsider about the other alternative?" she teased, pressing herself further against his side.

"Why do I have the feeling that I'm going to be spending a lot of time in confession?" he groaned as he chuckled at her teasing.

"Because you have a wicked mind, just like me," she laughed. She thought it was cute that he was so dedicated to something, even if it was an idea that she did not really believe in.

"After what you put me through in your bathroom tonight, you have no idea," he told her seriously.

She grinned. "Did you like my little display?"

"You are without a doubt the sexiest, most beautiful woman I've ever known," he let her know.

"And you are the sexiest, most perfect male specimen I've ever encountered," she told him, knowing he liked it when she talked with a smattering of scientific terminology.

"So what do you want to talk about?" he asked her. There were any number of things they could discuss, but he wanted her to have the lead. She needed to feel comfortable with this change in their relationship, and this would help in that.

Bones woke up very sleepily the next morning with the sunlight streaming in through the large window at one end of her apartment. She raised her head to find that she had apparently fallen asleep on the couch with Booth as they talked through the night. She felt him curled up behind her with his arm over her protectively, his hand on her abdomen. She sighed happily.

They had talked about a lot of things. Nothing was off limits. Past relationships, likes, dislikes, favorite pastimes, the works. Surprisingly they had a great deal in common, though their basic outlooks were so different. She had stayed curled up next to him in the towel all night, and she now noticed that the towel she had wrapped herself in was lying on the floor, which meant she was in his arms fully nude, with the exception of the towel she had wrapped her hair in. The situation was very arousing, but after having thought about it very hard while they were talking, she knew he was right. Last night would have been spectacular if they had fallen into bed with each other, but it would have been much more like a sympathy fuck that a real start to a serious relationship.

She listened to the steady breathing patterns he had as he slept and she was very comforted. Looking at the clock she saw that it was about 10:30. Angie would no doubt be calling soon to see if she was alright, but she wanted to stay like this for a while longer. For the first time in years, and especially the last two weeks, she was starting the day without any fear. The fear over the years went from a fear of facing the day alone, regardless of the number of bed partners she had over the years, to a fear of being rejected by Booth if he found out her true feeling, to the last two weeks where the fear and complete devastation was over being alone the rest of her life, not just the day. Recognizing this wonderful change, she snuggled back against him and let herself fall back asleep. She smiled as she thought of the surprise that awaited him when he woke up and found her completely naked in his arms. She wondered if he would be going to confession that day. What's more, she wondered if he would ever divulge any of those impure thoughts. Maybe facing her fears wasn't as bad as she had always thought it would be. No matter what, she was done running.


	2. Chapter 2

_This chapter deals with the next day in our story, and reveals a bit of Bones' sexual history to a degree to show a change in her outlook and what she wants for the future. A comparison/contrast if you will, though the change is written a bit subtly. Hope you all enjoy it. Let me know._

The annoying ringing of a cell phone woke the two of them up. Booth was not really sure where the hell he was, but the one thing he noticed was that he was lying on a couch with a woman. Then it all came back to him. The night before he had taken Bones home and they had really talked. Of course that was during and after she had shocked the hell out of him with her little bathing show she had graced him with in her bathroom. He would not be forgetting that delightful experience any time soon. He made a mental not to make sure he stopped by his usual parish church for confession before the day was out. All the thoughts and images he'd had during that utterly HOT display were sure to need some serious forgiveness from the Man upstairs through a granting of absolution by Father Mitch. Regardless of the massive amount of Hail Mary's he knew he'd be saying, Bones was worth it.

It was at that moment that he realized something. His hand. His one free arm had somehow become draped around Bones and now his hand was cupping, and, to his delight and horror, squeezing and kneading the purely sinful flesh of one of her breasts. Wait a minute. What happened to the towel she'd been wrapped in? He tilted his head a bit and saw the traitorous towel lying on the floor in front of the couch. He took a deep breath and with a silent prayer for some strength, he pulled his hand away, all the while wondering when he would get to have another chance like this again.

"Don't stop," he heard Bones whine softly. "That felt wonderful."

He could tell that she was barely awake. "You're cell phone is ringing," he told her.

Bones pushed herself up and then got up, very reluctantly, from the couch. Not caring if she was nude or not, she walked over to the counter and opened her cell phone. Turning around, she gave Booth another full frontal shot of her body and winked at him, loving the low groan he gave out. She turned her attention to the phone.

"Hello?"

"_Hey, Sweetie,_" Angela said with little enthusiasm. Not surprising considering the events of the past day.

"Hi, Ange," Bones replied. She watched as Booth sat up, all the while eying the rather impressive bulge in his jeans. She cursed him for being so right about sleeping together the night before.

"_What are you doing today?_" Angela asked. She had been wanting to see if anyone was going into the lab today. It was a Friday, but so far no one had been able to muster the desire to work after the revelation about Zack.

"I plan on staying in and spending time with Booth," Bones told her friend. She wanted to keep the relationship part a secret for now, but she also knew that Ange would understand her desire to spend time with Booth now that everything had settled down.

"_Are you guys okay?_" was the next question.

"We will be," Bones said honestly. "We spent most of the night talking. It's just going to take time."

"_Hodgins talked to Carolyn this morning and we have permission to visit Zack while he's in the hospital,_" Angela told her. "_We're going there this afternoon as see how he's doing. We wanted to know if the two of you wanted to come over to Hodgins house and have some dinner with us._"

"Let me check with Booth and then I'll call you back," Bones said. She had noticed Booth leave the living room and heard the shower running.

"_Okay. We'll be back from the hospital about 4:00, so call us then and if you guys want to come over, we'll put on some steaks,_" Angela said.

"Thanks, Ange," Bones said with a sigh of relief. "Tell Zack I'll be by to see him in a day or so."

"_Okay, Sweetie. I'll talk to you later this afternoon,_" Angela replied and then hung up.

Bones hung up the phone and felt drained just by talking with Angela for a few minutes. Sadly, it was the whole situation with Zack that was causing it. Thankfully, she and Booth had discussed it for quite some time the night before while they were on the couch. She felt bad that she didn't give Zack a good enough impression of her pride in him, while Booth felt that he should have been more aware of the signs of PTSD that undoubtedly Zack had been going through. Talking was one thing, as he had with Zack, but the young man obviously had needed professional help. His susceptibility to the "logical" points made by the Gormagon was proof of that.

Taking off the towel that she had wrapped around her hair the night before, Bones walked into the kitchen and put some coffee on. She didn't really notice that she was still nude, as she was not all that modest to begin with. She didn't even think about it until the short gasp of surprise from Booth when he came back into the kitchen as she was slicing some fruit. Turning, she saw the riveted look as he watched her naked profile.

"A little uncomfortable?" she asked with a grin. She noticed his bulge was back.

"You are definitely trying to give me a heart attack," he told her as he shook his finger teasingly at her.

"No, I'm just very comfortable with my body," she told him honestly. She washed off her hands and moved over to him. "I'm going to take a shower and get dressed. Coffee's on, and there's some fresh fruit on the counter. I'd like to ask you something in a few minutes."

"No bathtub conversations?" he asked a bit warily. He was already having those impure thoughts again, so he was trying to curb the lust at this point. Besides, they needed to discuss a few things anyway.

"Not this morning, but if you're really good, maybe tonight," she teased as she waggled her eyebrows. She walked off with an exaggerated sway of her hips to tease him further.

"Definitely going to confession every day," he muttered as he poured himself some coffee and fixed a bowl of fruit.

While she was in the shower, Bones began thinking about some serious changes that she was sure were going to be taking place in the near future. Booth had really made an impact on her in the last few years. Sadly it had taken the events of the last two weeks to really know how much, or at least be willing to admit it to herself. One change that was made as of last night was in her outlook on her sex life. Since meeting Booth she had dated regularly, but it was clear to her dates that she was not interested in long term relationships, only a good time. Some were only for intellectual stimulation, but most were to take care of her sexual urges. Before meeting Booth, she had not really dated, simply picked up men who looked interesting. She did have one embarrassing secret that she would not ever reveal, especially to Booth. Before meeting him, she had relied on paid escorts to take her to the formal gatherings she felt obliged to attend, or was ordered to attend in the case of the Jeffersonian hosted functions. More often than not, she would invite the escort of the evening up to her apartment for some 'fun and games' for the night. She was not proud looking back on it, but at that time it fit with her views about sex. Since he had become her partner she had exclusively asked him to escort her to such functions. It seemed so natural that she could not even recall how she had come to the decision to have him be her official escort to such things, but she had from the first day she met him. She'd been honest with Booth the evening before when she told him that sex had always been a way to feel alive considering all the death and lack of social life that her world held. She'd also used it to hide from her inner feelings for him once he set out those damn lines between them. Her basic views on monogamy were the same as before, but she had now added a caveat that she was going to be monogamous with Booth since she had, for the first time in her life, fallen in love with a man. He was simply the man she had unconsciously been waiting for her entire life.

She also had come to the conclusion that she was tired of being alone. To that end, she was going to be working towards Booth moving in with her when he felt comfortable in their new relationship. That feeling of utter comfort and not of fear when she woke up that morning had shocked her into realizing just how much she needed him beside her every night and morning. His wandering hands had also been a very nice incentive, too. She smiled at that last one. She loved for a man to fondle her body and give her slow, sensual pleasure like that. Most guys she had been with had been lacking in that department, as they had been more interested in a rougher, more exhilarating experience. She couldn't deny that a fast, hard fuck, or a number of them in a single session, was enjoyable, and that there were times that she wanted exactly that, but she also wanted to have a prolonged, slow encounter sometimes, too. She was sure that Booth could, and would, willingly, provide her with whatever she desired sexually. She would, however, have to work with him on expanding his overall view of what was normal and healthy regarding sex. She enjoyed such things as role playing, and she wasn't so sure about him after his remarks on the whole idea of role playing when they witnessed the pony play scenario during a case. His talk of making love, though, was something that she wanted more than anything to experience.

Ultimately, though, she was unbelievably comforted by the level of respect that he had showed her the evening before. Her teasing, and downright erotic, display the night before had a couple of different purposes, from showing him complete honesty all the way to seduction, but he had treated her as a woman who deserved respect and dignity. He was a man, and as such had been aroused and interested, but he had maintained his self control. When he had asked her if she was seducing him, he had also told her that it wouldn't be right since the circumstances held to many negative factors which could ruin a new relationship, no matter how wonderful the night would have been.

Bones spent some time drying and combing out her hair before getting dressed. Nothing fancy today. A baggy pair of sweat pants and a loose t-shirt with her hair in a pony tail. When she came out into the main part of the apartment she saw that she had been in the bathroom for almost an hour. Booth was sitting at the table having some coffee and reading the paper while having some toast. The empty plate next to him told her that he'd ate some of the fruit she'd sliced up for them.

"Hi," she told him as she leaned down and kissed his cheek.

Booth sat up and turned to face her. He inwardly sighed in relief that she had chosen to get dressed. Much as he loved looking at her naked body, he didn't know how much more self control he could muster. "Hey," he said with a smile. "Feeling better?"

"More awake, but I was enjoying what you were doing when Angela called," she winked at him while moving to get a cup of coffee and some fruit for herself.

"Sorry about that," Booth replied with a slight blush that she found very cute.

"Don't be," she admonished. "I think that last night in the bathroom, and then the talk on the couch before we fell asleep together should show you that I am more than willing to give you those liberties, Booth. If I wasn't enjoying it when we woke up, I would have told you so. You know that. If I hadn't known Ange would be calling, I would have gladly ignored the phone and let you continue. You have a fabulous touch, Seeley Booth."

"I aim to please," he teased back, feeling a bit more comfortable about it.

"And you please me very much," she told him in all seriousness. She let him see in her eyes and tone of voice just how serious she was. "And not just physically."

"And you please me, Bones," he told her just as seriously. "I guess I'm just a bit old fashioned."

"You are," she agreed. She thought back to her wondering about his sexual repertoire and his relatively negative view of fetishism. "But you listen when people talk about things that you disagree with, and while you are pretty staunch in your views, you have an open mind. That sets you apart from most men I know, despite your obvious discomfort on some subjects."

"I'd really rather not know anything about the men you've been with, Bones," Booth stammered.

"It's a part of my past, Booth," she pointed out. "I've never understood why you have such a difficult time with it."

"Bones, the fact that you've been with a number of guys isn't what bothers me," he tried to explain. He knew that a lot of men in a relationship with a woman would be a bit reluctant if they knew their significant other had had a relatively large number of sexual partners in the past. He, though, wasn't that shallow. At least he hoped not.

"Then what does?" she asked curiously. She knew that Booth was not putting her down, or making her out to be a horrible person, but she was uncomfortable when he was uncomfortable. It proved to her once again just how deeply they both knew and felt about one another.

"I've always suspected, and your statement last night confirmed it, that the reason you've had a number of 'partners' isn't simply to 'satisfy your biological urges' but to add a bit of life to your existence," he told her. He reached out and took hold of her hand. "To me, you're a hell of a lot better than that, Bones. You deserve to have a life that isn't merely boiled down to the occasional transient sex partner for a life outside of work."

"There were a lot fewer since we've known each other," she told him. "You give me quite a bit of life."

"And I'm glad," he replied with a smile. "You said you have a question for me?"

Bones knew he was trying to get away from the subject and let him get away with it for now. "Yes, I do, but we will continue this discussion soon," she warned him.

"I never doubted it," he responded. He knew that she was not one to let a subject of discussion be put off for long, and his personal squeamishness on some subjects, good reason or no, was something he knew would not deter her.

"Good," she nodded. She paused for a moment. This was something she was not sure of, but wanted to ask him. She had to ask something else first. "When do you have Parker?" she asked.

Booth was a bit surprised at the question. "I was supposed to get him for a week starting tomorrow, but I called Rebecca while you were in the shower and told her all that had happened yesterday. I asked if I could have him the following week so that all of us could work some things out and get beyond this a bit. It wouldn't be fair to Parker if he was around a bunch of morose friends," he explained. "She said she understood and had no problem with the change, so I will be picking him up next Sunday."

Bones was glad that Rebecca was so understanding on this. There had been times that the woman had been awfully selfish and cruel towards Booth's love for his son. With all that had been happening, this would have been horrible for him. "I'd like to invite you to come with me to a place I own in Virginia for a few days," she told him.

He cocked his head. "You own a place in Virginia?" he asked.

"I bought it a few years ago, and the surrounding property with a small lake in the mountains," she explained. "I rarely go there, but spend a few days every few months to unwind. I was thinking that we could go together and spend some time there."

Booth smiled. She was full of surprises, as always. "I think that would be great," he accepted the invitation.

Bones blushed slightly. "I've never taken anyone there before," she told him. "The only one who knows I even own it is Hodgins since I bought it from him."

Booth could well imagine what this place would be like considering that a getaway for Hodgins would be pretty impressive if his unbelievable mansion here in DC was anything to go by. "Thanks for trusting me," he told her as he squeezed her hand.

"I've been meaning to ask you to go there at some point, but there always seemed to be something coming up to ruin the idea," she tried to explain. That was true enough, with anything from angst between friends, cases piling up, or simply a desire to satisfy either of their 'personal' urges since they were not together until now. Looking back on it, she felt kind of ashamed of that last since she was foolish enough not to have a serious talk a long time ago about that ridiculous 'line' he drew between them.

"When do you want to leave for the place?" he asked her.

"It takes about three hours by car to get there, and I want to go to the hospital to see Zack before we go," she said. "So I was thinking Sunday morning?"

Booth nodded. "I can miss Mass for one week, and I'd like to see Zack, too," he agreed. "I'll call Caroline and make sure we have access to Zack at the hospital."

"We do," Bones informed him. "Hodgins and Angela called her this morning and she said no problem. They're visiting him now. That reminds me. They invited us to his place for something to eat after they get back, if we feel like it."

"Sounds good to me," Booth agreed. "What do you want to do until then?"

"I bought a couple of DVD's the other day," she let him know. "I thought maybe we could sit on the couch and watch one?"

Booth smiled. He had pestered her to no end a year before to get a television, and when she did, she got a wall mounted 45" plasma flat panel television with a DVD player as well. Once a week they would usually have dinner, do some work, and then watch a movie. "What movies?"

"I got the two National Treasure movies since you've been bugging me to watch them so much," she shrugged.

Booth brightened. "Great! We can watch the first one, and after dinner at Hodgins' place we can watch the second one. You'll love 'em Bones!" he enthused.

Bones was amused at Booth when they got back to her apartment from Hodgins mansion where they had dinner. Booth had insisted on stopping at his church to go to confession, all the while insisting that she stay in the SUV while he was in there. "_I love my Church and I love being Catholic, Bones. I let you in there, you'll say or do something that will get me excommunicated before I even sit down in the confessional,_" he'd told her firmly when she wanted to go in with him. Forty long minutes later she saw him walking out of the Church in kind of a daze. She laughed at him when he sat down behind the wheel and simply intoned "_Five hundred Hail Mary's? I am so screwed_." She was still laughing when they walked into the apartment and she saw him slump on the couch with that dazed look still on his face.

"What did you tell him?" she asked when she sat down and handed him a glass of water.

"You don't want to know," Booth said with a shudder. He believed in being completely honest with his confessor, which meant details. He spent nearly thirty minutes going over his laundry list of impure thoughts from the night before, and that morning, including having had his hand on Bone's bare breast, to Father Mitch, after which he'd been given a stern lecture for five minutes on sin and told to do five hundred Hail Mary's. He'd never heard of anyone being given such a penitence before. No doubt he'd just broken the record by a long shot.

Bones kept on chuckling. It felt good to be able to laugh. After the events of the last couple of weeks she needed that. Dinner had been nice, but no one had really been in a good mood. Hodgins and Angela had spent some time with Zack and gave him their support, but it was hard to fathom all that had happened.

"It's not funny, Bones," Booth sighed. "Not only am I racking up some serious time in Purgatory, but my Priest, who I happen to think is a really good guy, now thinks I'm a sex pervert."

"So I should tone it down a bit?" she asked. She kept the tone light, but she was serious. The last thing she wanted was to have Booth feel that any aspect of their new relationship was wrong. She may be much freer and open about the human body and sexuality that Booth was, but that didn't give her the right to make him suffer for it, even if teasing him was pretty fun. This was one of those topics that they would have to discuss at some point in the near future.

"Nah," he told her. "If I'm going to go down in flames, I may as well enjoy it." He added that last bit with a smile, telling her that while he may be concerned with his immortal soul, he wasn't upset about the situation.

"So my good Catholic boyfriend enjoys those impure thoughts, huh?" she teased with a very amused glint in her eyes.

"With you as my inspiration, hell yeah," he said as he proceeded to rack up some more potential Hail Mary's while looking over at her with bouncing eyebrows.

"Want to watch the movie?" she asked. The second National Treasure movie was already in the DVD player since she had switched them before they had left to go to dinner.

"Sure," he told her. "I'm going to get us a beer."

"NO!" she said loudly as she jumped up and rushed to the kitchen to get the beers. She came back a bit embarrassed and flustered.

"What was that all about?" he asked curiously. He took the offered beer and took a sip.

Bones sat down and grimaced. This was damn embarrassing, but he had a right to know. "Ever since you got caught with my refrigerator blowing up, I've always tried to keep you from opening up one in my kitchen," she said with her head ducked. Before he had a chance to respond she lifted her head and told him "Now turn on the movie and forget I ever said that."

Booth did as he was told and they sat back to watch the movie. About half way through, Booth noticed that Bones was sound asleep. He smiled. The last two days had sure been draining, and for her pretty revelatory. Making sure he was being as unobtrusive as possible, he got up and slowly picked her up. He made his way to her bedroom and laid her on the bed, removing her sandals and covering her with the duvet. He was almost out of the room when he heard her mutter 'stupid Alpha Male tendencies.' When he turned, he saw her curled up and fast asleep.

"She notices that stuff even in her sleep?" he asked quietly. Shaking his head, he walked out of the room and made his way to the couch to get another nights sleep on the uncomfortable piece of furniture. "The things I do for her," he chuckled. But it had been a good day, 500 Hail Mary's notwithstanding.

Bones was sleeping soundly once again. In her mind, which was always active, she was feeling very alive and happy, and not an ounce of fear was felt. She'd faced a new day, but this day had brought some very good changes in her outlook, and in her life. A smile curled her lips as she fell into a deeper sleep.

_I wrote this with a somewhat hesitant pen. The part about her sexual history that she thought about in the shower I felt was very in character considering her somewhat vocal views on the show at various times of sex being the taking care of biological urges, and also a response to her lack of desire for serious commitment. Some may view the extent of what I came up with as a bit extreme and possibly out of character, but I feel I came close to the mark. The next chapter, which I have mostly written already, will jump ahead to both of them being in the UK, though they are involved and both are ready to take the relationship to the next step, which they weren't ready for in these two first chapters. The rating will be M for that one._


	3. Chapter 3

_Here's the next chapter in the story. I wanted to keep some of the seriousness of the prior two, but inject a bit more humor. I hope it works. Let me know._

_Disclaimer: I don't own, or profit from, these characters or franchise in any way. No copyright infringement is intended._

Booth was not in the happiest of moods this bright Sunday morning. For one he was missing Mass, which, no matter what was going on, always disturbed him. He was raised as a very devout Catholic, and while he knew that he was far from a perfect practitioner, he very seriously believed in going to Sunday Mass every week unless something major prevented it. The big reason that he was a bit unsettled this fine day was that Bones had woken his ass up at the ungodly hour of 5am to get him motivated for their trip to her lakeside getaway in Virginia that she had told him about two days ago. Yes he understood that it was a three hour drive to get there, and Bones was anxious to get away from the environment that had been causing her some serious emotional turmoil of late, but come on. _5Am???_ He felt it was a little too much. He would never tell her that, though. He would cheerfully jump off the side of a tall building for her.

"You're mad at me," Bones said from the driver's seat. She had insisted that they take her hybrid SUV and that she drive. It was her place they were going to after all, so fair was fair in her opinion.

Booth smiled. So like Bones to jump right in and make a statement like that. "Just tired, Bones, and I don't like missing Mass if I have a choice," he told her. He saw her relax a bit.

"I'm sorry I got you up so early for this," she apologized with a short smile in his direction. "I just wanted to get out of DC as soon as we could."

"I don't blame you," he replied. "All that's happened the last couple of weeks has taken its toll."

"Thank you for going with me to see Zack," she said, continuing on with the subject. "I'm not sure I could have faced him by myself right now."

"He's my friend, too, Bones," Booth remarked. "At least he now knows what you've always felt about his work and what he accomplished at the Jeffersonian and as part of the team." He thought about how carefully Bones had made those points, making sure that there was no room for doubt on Zack's part.

"Do you ever think he'll be released from the psychiatric facility?" she asked.

"I really don't know, Bones," Booth replied honestly. "If so, then not for quite some time. No matter what his change in mental status, he did commit a murder, and that's why he'll be in a guarded facility."

Once again changing the subject, as if she didn't really know how to maintain a conversation on one subject since there were so many disturbing subjects that deserved to be talked about, but somehow weren't appropriate at the moment, Bones veered him to something else.

"We'll be stopping in a few minutes at the store that I use to get the things I want for supplies," she told him.

"How far away are we to your place?" he asked.

"Once we leave the store, we'll be going off the main road to enter the property, so about thirty minutes once we're done at the store," she offered. She looked over at him quickly and saw that he was more relaxed than he had been for most of the ride, and that pleased her. He was taking in the scenery right now, and that gave her a bit of time to pause and regroup. Talking about Zack made her feel so raw and desolate that she could only handle small snippets of conversation, but she'd had to tell Booth how much his being there, and here, with her meant to her.

Since her rather 'revealing' conversation with him the evening before last in her bathroom, she had felt more comfortable with Booth than ever before. His fake death had caused her to really take stock of what she wanted in her life, and what she found made her feel so foolish for having avoided this for so long. Damn that stupid line she had let him draw between them. She recalled her feelings at the time he had done so, and while she had not been 'in love' with Booth, she had been very much drawn to him and considered him an integral part of herself.

"I really don't know how to thank you for being there for me," she'd told him when they arrived at the store, hoping the seriousness that her tone of voice held conveyed that it was more than just the last two days. "And for coming with me this week."

"Bones, this place is incredible!" Booth exclaimed when they came in sight of the spectacular log cabin that was at the end of a long and meandering drive. It was massive, made of those large, golden hued logs that one sees on the architectural shows. He estimated, as he had an undergraduate minor in architectural design, that the cabin was approximately 12,000 square feet, and he would not be surprised to find his estimate being on the low side by a few thousand square feet. If the outside structure was anything to go by, then the inside must be an absolute dream.

"Thank you," she said with a slight blush. She'd never been one for any really serious material possessions, but when she had mentioned to Hodgins that she was looking for a getaway place with lots of seclusion, he had shown her a complete portfolio of this place and the surrounding property. He had made her an offer which she could not refuse, as he was not in it for the money by any means, and she now owned this wonderful cabin, and the entire lake plus all the surrounding land for 1-1/2 miles inland from the shore. The property boundaries were well marked and the forest service was very vigilant in maintaining the boundaries.

She had been nervous about taking him on this trip with her, but in the end decided that this was a place that she wanted to share with him, and only him. She'd told him the truth. She'd never taken anyone here with her before. None of her previous boyfriends, or casual lovers, had ever had an invitation to this place. She thought back to her conversation with Angela two days previously when she and Booth had had dinner with Angela and Hodgins. Angela had pulled her aside while Hodgins was speaking with Booth about Zack.

_"So what's going on, Sweetie?" Angela had asked almost instantly once they were alone._

_"About what?" Bones had asked, trying to feign ignorance. It didn't work._

_Angela had looked at her with silent disdain. "Now is not the time to try and peddle that line of bullshit, Bren," she said firmly. "Something's changed between you and Booth. What happened?"_

_Bones told her about the evening before, beginning with the staircase conversation with him at the Jeffersonian, and then to the bathtub conversation at her place, followed by the serious talk on he couch. "I need him, Ange," she said at the end of it._

_"But how do you feel about that?" Angela asked, knowing full well her best friend's aversion to feeling needy, or dependent._

_"I'm not sure," Bones replied hesitantly. "I'm taking him to a place I have in Virginia for a week, beginning on Sunday."_

_"You have a place in Virginia?" Angela asked._

_"I have for a few years," Bren confirmed. "Ask Hodgins about it. He sold it to me. I go there a few times a year to get away. I've never brought anyone there before, Ange. _No one_."_

_"Then I think that's your answer Sweetie," Angela said with a smile. For all her bluster and ranting to Bren about how great it would be if she would hook up with Booth, she was not going to lose control this time. Bren was making a real effort here, and Booth was really making sure that Bren was ready for what was likely to be a very positive relationship. They didn't need any razzing to derail that. "If you haven't taken a lover or boyfriend to a place that would be perfect for some illicit fun away from the real world, then your feelings for Booth must be through the roof."_

_"I don't know what that means," Bones once again revealed her lack of knowledge of a common reference._

_"It means that your feelings are beyond measure," Angela told her._

That conversation had clarified a few important things for Bones. Her feelings were unfamiliar to be sure, but they were good feelings and they were way beyond what she had felt for any man in the past. She was also sure now that bringing Booth here to her getaway was the right thing. Even though she had scoffed for a couple of years now at Angela's constant nagging about what a great thing it would be to be involved with Booth, Angela hadn't teased or nagged her at all during the time at Hodgins' place for dinner. And then there was Booth's reaction to seeing the place. Most guys she knew would have made some crass comment about a pleasure palace in the woods, or some other sexually charged remark. Booth had admired the location and the cabin for the remarkable things they were.

"I can carry my own luggage, Booth," she protested to no avail, as usual.

"No way, Bones," he told her. He gave her that serious stare he had that told her that he was not joking and that this was somehow very important to him.

"Arrogant Alpha Male Neanderthal," she muttered under her breath, but, naturally, he heard her with his disturbingly acute hearing.

"That's me," he grinned as he made his way to the door with her following a couple of feet behind him.

Bones opened the door and let him through first, taking the time to admire his fine ass along the way. They may not be to the point of having sex yet, much to her near constant frustration, but nothing said she couldn't enjoy the spectacular view that his body provided her with. Closing her eyes for a brief moment, she opened them again to find him looking back at her with a knowing grin on his face.

"Do you have to be so damn smug?" she huffed and walked past him, leading the way into the cabin.

"What's the matter?" he asked innocently. He was enjoying her discomfort since it was telling him just how much she wanted him. It was nice knowing that it was an _equal_ relationship from the word go. "Getting a little flustered, Bones?"

Bones stomped off. Knowing he would be following her, she put a very definite extra sway to her hips. His groan was the perfect reward for her efforts. "Now who's flustered, Booth?" she asked over her shoulder with her own smile and wink.

Booth just shook his head and mentally began counting the number of Hail Mary's he was racking up by the second on this trip.

Three hours later, after a very nice tour of the place, and having been left in his room to unpack and get into some comfortable clothes to be outside in, he called Parker on his cell phone. He was walking through the cabin to get to the sliding doors leading to the massive deck where Bones had said she was going to do some sun bathing to work on a tan. He definitely didn't want to miss that, and maybe he could rub some sun tan lotion on her back. Yeah, he knew. More Hail Mary's by the truckload, but Bones was worth it.

"Hey, Bub," he said as his son came on the phone. Rebecca had been glad that he'd called. She'd been worried, and she knew that Parker had been disappointed that he would not be with his Dad this week. "How ya doin'?" he asked.

"We're going to the park today and then a movie," Parker said in an excited voice.

"That's great Kiddo," Booth said with a smile. Since he and Rebecca had patched up their differences somewhat a few months before, things had been much better regarding his seeing Parker and having time with his son.

"Is Bones okay, Daddy?" Parker asked. He really liked Dr. Bones and when his Dad had told him that Bones was having a difficult time with some things that had happened, he was naturally worried. Dr. Bones was cool!

"She will be, Bub," Booth reassured him. "It's just going to take some time. That's why I needed to be here for her this week. You do understand, don't you?" He had just reached the sliding glass door and looked out. He almost dropped the cell phone and had a stroke all in one as he saw Bones, her back to him, untying and removing the top and bottoms of her very microscopic string bikini. Once fully nude, he saw her putting on suntan lotion.

"Daddy?" Parker's voice interrupted his Bones gazing.

"Yeah?" he said quickly.

"Can I talk to Bones?" Parker asked.

"Uh, Bones is a bit busy right now taking care of something, Bub," he lied through his teeth. "How about I have her call you later this afternoon when she's not so tied up?"

"Okay," Parker said enthusiastically. A call from Bones personally was cool.

"I gotta go, Bub," Booth said with regret. "You be good and I'll see you next week." He hung up and sighed. Looking out on the deck, he saw that Bones had laid down, face down, and her ass was now pointing straight at him, her legs slightly parted. He looked up at the heavens and groaned. "You know, we're supposed to be rewarded for doing the right thing down here, yet I seem to be getting tortured. How about a little help?" he supplicated. Taking a deep breath, he opened the sliding glass door and stepped out into the sun.

Bones heard him and raised up on one elbow and curled slightly to turn her upper body so she was facing him. She smiled upon seeing him visibly try to restrain his more obvious physical response to her nudity. "There you are," she scolded. "I need some help out here. Could you rub some lotion on my back?" she requested. Without waiting for a response, she laid back down and placed her head on her crossed forearms.

"You're killing me here, Bones," he said out loud as he walked over to her and knelt down next to her, grabbing the bottle of lotion that was on her towel next to her.

"But what a way to go," she said with a grin, correctly using a common phrase.

Booth groaned as he squirted some lotion onto his hands and began to spread it on her back. He wanted to do nothing more than to take her into the cabin to her bedroom and make love, but he knew that while progress had been made, they still had some things to get through first. One thing in particular which he had been waiting until there was a good moment and some other issues had been hashed out.

"You were right, Bones," he said, with just a hint of vagueness in his tone.

"About what?" she asked as she let out a moan of pleasure at what his hands were doing to the muscles in her back.

"I should have called you personally and told you I was alive," he admitted. His hands stopped when she suddenly turned over and sat up, cross legged in front of him, looking seriously at his eyes. For once, he was not having difficulty ignoring her nudity since he was more worried about another angry outburst from her on the subject he had brought up.

"Booth-," she tried to interject, but he wouldn't let her.

"No, Bones," he said quietly. "I need to tell you this." When she nodded, he continued. "After you told me what you'd felt and went through when you thought I was dead, your anger really began to make sense. Unfortunately I didn't really know what to say to make it any better, even the other night. I don't trust many people, Bones, but I trust you more than anyone. I let you down and regardless of what Sweets did, I didn't do what I was supposed to do. Not as an Agent, but as a friend who knows that a very specific person can be trusted with anything. At the very least I should have spoken to Cullen and personally made damn sure that you and everyone on that list I handed over was notified."

"I'm not mad at you anymore, Booth, if I ever really was," Bones replied as she took in the deadly serious tone and posture of Booth.

"But I'm mad at myself," he told her. "I feel more guilty about this than anything I did as a sniper."

Bones had to force herself not to take hold of him and give him a hug. His startling admission of how he felt about this compared to his days as a sniper was very profound, and something that she felt very deeply. She had been privy to much of his anguish over those events and knew just how low he felt himself to be for having taken lives like that, despite the good reasons for the assignments he had as a sniper. Her eyes fell to the small wrapping over his still healing wound from when he had been shot by that woman in the club. She felt herself pale a bit at the memory. The scene replayed in her mind like it did those horrible two weeks after she thought he had died.

"How is your wound?" she asked softly. She clasped her hands together to keep from reaching out and touching the rectangular gauze bandage on his upper right chest. She could still see the blood running out of the wound as she held her hands on it to apply pressure when he'd been shot. It made her a bit nauseous thinking about it.

"Pretty sore," he admitted. "I still have to change the dressing twice a day, and it leaks a small bit, but not bad."

She thought to how he had fought that guy in the cemetery and shuddered. It must have been excruciatingly painful. "I'll change the dressing when it needs done," she said firmly, in a tone that she knew he would not try and argue with. She reached out and checked the dressing with her skilled fingers. She kept her eyes focused on it.

"Sure," he said as he noticed that her gaze had not left the dressing. Her hands were now palpating the skin next to the gauze as if seeing if there was anything else to be concerned over. "Are you okay?" he asked. He watched her eyes very carefully. She may have very high walls built up around herself, but he could always see what was going on by her eyes.

"You ever get hurt again trying to protect me like some Alpha Male idiot, I'll kick you ass," she told him with a very serious tone that told a lot more than what was being said. "I need you," she whispered. She shook her head to get away from such thoughts. Looking down on him she smirked. Of course he had on shorts, while she was fully nude. She gave him a him a nudge. "Clothing is not an option while I'm sunbathing, Buster," she told him with a grin.

"Into nude sunbathing, huh Bones?" he asked, trying to keep his voice normal, once again counting the Hail Mary's he would be punished with.

"I don't like tan lines," she shrugged. "Now strip," she ordered.

He chuckled. He may be a bit prudish when it came to sex, but he was trying to relax when it came to Bones. Standing, he pulled down the shorts, amused at her very close stare as he did so. Her eyes were riveted to his equipment. "Like what you see, Bones?" he asked with a knowing smile. He had nothing to be ashamed of.

Bones almost licked her lips when he pulled down his shorts. She'd seen him when he stood up in his bathtub a few nights before and she had really liked the view. To say she'd been impressed would not be an understatement. His belt buckle was dead on, and she was sure that when they finally wound up in bed together, he would be everything she had fantasized about. "Perfect," she said aloud without thinking. She gasped and looked up into his eyes which were amused. She smiled. "I'll make good use of that when the time is right," she told him with a slightly husky tone added to her voice.

"You're really killing me here, Bones," he said with a sigh.

"Put some lotion on and lie down for some sun," she told him. She lay herself back down on her front and turned her head to face in his direction.

"I'm only going to lie out here for a bit," he told her. "I won't need any lotion."

She sighed, knowing that it wouldn't do any good to argue. "Suit yourself," she told him as she saw him lay down next to her face down. She stole a quick peek at his ass and smiled. 'Perfect' she thought to herself as she closed her eyes.

"This is not a peep show, Bones," he said without turning his head in her direction.

'Smug bastard,' she thought with a grin as she tried to figure out how the hell he always knew what she was thinking somehow. She promptly fell asleep, knowing her mental clock would wake her in time to turn over and get the front nice and tan. The sunscreen was something that Hodgins and Zack had made for her one time a few years back and worked incredibly well. She'd laid outside in the sun for hours at a time and never been burned while using it.

When she woke up to turn over, she looked at where Booth was and saw to her shock that he was not on his back, but she was shocked to see him asleep. Looking down his body she chuckled at the rather prominent erection he was sporting, but her interest turned to horror when she saw that while he was pretty dark on his chest and legs, he was beet red on the area his shorts normally covered, and in particular his penis was sunburned!

"Booth!" she said loudly. She sat up and prodded his shoulder with her hand, very worried. "Booth!" she said in a louder voice.

"Wha-" he said as he groggily woke up.

"You're sunburned, Booth," she said hurriedly. "Get up. We have to get you in the house and take care of this."

It wasn't quite registering in his mind why he had to get up, but he heard the word sunburned and sat up. Then it hit what the problem was. "SHIT!" he let out a pain filled yell. He promptly laid back down, a burning, stinging pain in his groin, and in particular his dick.

"Get up, Booth," she ordered as she stood up over him. Reaching down, she grabbed his arm and pulled him to a sitting position, and forcing him to stand. She sighed when she saw his erection fade instantly, but there were more important things to be concerned about. "Come on," she demanded, and took him by his elbow and guided him into the cabin. "The things I do for you, Booth," she muttered as she closed the sliding glass door. She kept muttering about Alpha Male tendencies the whole while Booth was groaning in misery.

_A/N: Sorry to leave it here, but I wanted to get a chapter up before Christmas. I'm also sorry about being so cruel to Booth in this, but this actually happened to a friend of mine who tried nude sunbathing for the first time at a nude beach in Europe a few years ago, so I decided to see how it would write in this story to add a touch of humor to it. I plan on writing a couple of more chapters dealing with the week in Virginia, and then skip ahead to the 4th of July for the story. My plans for a segment dealing with _Yanks in the UK_ have been changed and that will be a separate story of it's own once I finish this one. Happy holidays everyone._


	4. Chapter 4

_Here's the fourth chapter of this story and in it we see a little of how Booth deals with his problem from the nasty sunburn, and Bones' reaction to what is happening between them. A bit of humor throughout, though some serious issues are tangentially brought up. Hope you all enjoy._

_Disclaimer: I don't own, or profit from, these characters or franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

Bones sat and glared over at Booth who was laying on his bed moaning in a pretty fair approximation of agony. It had been three hours since she had woken on the deck and found Booth asleep and his entire groin, and more importantly his very impressive genitalia, sunburned. Not just sunburned, it was practically cooked in Booth's opinion, which she wasn't too keen on paying attention to at the moment. He just had to be such a stubborn Alpha Male and refuse to do as she suggested and put some suntan lotion on like any sane rational person would do. Now instead of being able to enjoy a wonderful trip together, and work on being a couple, she had to play nursemaid to him. Granted that had some advantages, such as taking care of the medical side of dealing with his "cooked" genitalia, but there were many other deliciously wicked things she could be doing with it instead. While she was sitting and glaring, somewhat irked that Booth was seemingly asleep, her cell phone vibrated. Checking the display she saw that it was Angela.

"Hi, Ange," she said as she flipped open the cell phone. She stood and walked out of the bedroom.

_"How's Booth, Sweetie?"_ Angela asked, clearly amused.

"Asleep," Bones said testily. She was not hiding her pique at this turn of events. Booth was definitely going to get an earful when he was feeling a bit better.

_"What did the Doctor say?"_

"After the man got done laughing, he told us that it was a severe sun burn and that Booth could not have any material covering on that part of his body for about a week," Bones stated. "At best he can wear hospital gowns, or a mu-mu." She held the phone away from her ear as Angela laughed really loudly.

_"I expect to see pictures of our hunky G-Man in a mu-mu, or better yet a picture from the back if he's in a hospital gown," _Angela giggled. _"Preferably if it's untied, Sweetie."_

"You're incorrigible, Ange," Bones chuckled, though she had to admit the idea of a picture of Booth's naked ass was appealing.

_"I may be engaged, but I can still look, Sweetie,"_ Angela continued laughing. _"Seriously, though. Is Booth going to be okay?"_

"It's going to take awhile, and his damn Alpha Male pride will be bruised, but he will be," Bones told her friend. "He will be hearing quite a bit from me about this, though. I did not come here with him to play nursemaid." She looked at the time. "I've got to go, Ange. I promised Booth I would call Parker this afternoon since I wasn't around when he was talking to him earlier."

_"Ooh," _Angela crooned. _"A personal call from Dr. Bones. I'd be willing to bet that Booth's son is as in love with you as Booth is, Sweetie."_

"Bye, Ange," Bones laughed. She closed the cell phone and thought for a minute about that, though. Parker was a lovely child who was very smart and very affectionate. She had a real soft spot for him, and she was amazed at how much the child seemed to want to be around her. Booth had never said anything, but she could see in his eyes just how much her and Parker enjoying each other's company meant to Booth. She opened the phone again and dialed Parker's number.

_"Hello?"_ came the familiar voice. Booth had told her that Rebecca was now allowing Parker to answer the phone since he was getting older.

"Hi, Parker," she said happily. "Your Father said he talked with you this morning and I wanted to call and say hi."

_"Hi Bones!"_ Parker said excitedly.

"I wanted to thank you Parker for being so understanding about your Father helping me this week. I know you were looking forward to seeing him now instead of next week," she told the young boy. "It really means a lot to me."

_"Daddy said something happened and you were sad, Bones," _Parker told her. _"Are you going to be okay?"_

"I will be, Parker," she assured him. "It's just really hard right now. Your Father is really helping me and I don't know what I'd do without him. How about when he has you next week, I take you out to lunch? Just the two of us. Then we can get your Father and go to the Jeffersonian and we can see some of the exhibits and Angela can give you some art lessons. Sound like fun?"

_"That would be awesome, Bones,"_ Parker said enthusiastically.

"I better let you get back to your fun, Parker," she said with a smile. "Your Father told me you were going to be going to the park and a movie. I'll call you again in a few days, though. Okay?"

_"Okay,"_ Parker said, sounding just a bit disappointed that the call was ending. He really liked talking with Bones. _"I hope you feel better soon. Tell Daddy I said hi and I love him."_

"I'm feeling better already, Parker," she assured him. She did, too. There was something about Booth's son that really touched her. "Bye." She hung up the phone and decided to check on Booth. Despite being angry at him over this incredibly stupid turn of events, she was worried. She had been around pain and suffering her entire adult life in varying circumstances, but when it was Booth suffering, she was affected on a much more emotional, even primal, level.

When she walked into the main guest bedroom where Booth was, she had to smirk just a bit. He was moaning a bit, and squirming, but he was asleep. There in front of her was the perfect male body in her opinion, but now it had a flaw. His impressive, and in her opinion mouth watering, penis was at full attention, but instead of a normal skin tone, it was an angry red. Very deep and burnished red, in fact. An erection like the one he had right then would be incredibly painful as the skin was stretched taut and the nerve endings on fire from the sun burn. Only flacid would it be half way under control in terms of pain. Unfortunately considering the high level of sexual tension and frustration that had always existed between them, and was almost overwhelming now that they were a couple, it would not be easy to control. That was especially true if the statistical studies of sexual thoughts in the average male held true with Booth. Something told her that the studies were, if anything, a bit conservative in terms of Booth.

"Booth?" she shook him lightly on his shoulder.

"Oh God, Bones," he groaned. "I'm really hurting here," he whined.

"And whose fault is that?" she snapped out, a little more sharply than she had intended.

"Mine," he said as he gritted his teeth. "I know, I know. I was being a stubborn Alpha Male and didn't do what should have been common sense. Now can you please help me?"

Bones almost laughed. She was amused that he knew exactly what she would say to him when it came to what was angering her, but she didn't have the heart to make him feel worse at the moment. That could wait until he was doing better later in the week. "Do you want an ice pack? Or perhaps some of the cooling lotion and ointment that the Doctor left?" she asked.

"I'd it like to be soothed, Bones, not frozen off," he said with a snort. He was trying not to be too much of a wimp right then, but this hurt, dammit.

Bones sighed. He was obviously in no shape to do it for himself, so she was left to take care of this.

"You're going to owe me for this one, Booth," she told him bluntly. She looked down at herself and cursed him mentally again. She'd wanted to spend most of her time here either in her various bikinis, or even nude out on the deck in the sun, but with him needing to avoid an erection as much as possible she had dawned some unrevealing clothes, which were, in her opinion, extremely unflattering.

Moving to the bed, she leaned over and took the tube of lotion and ointment, flipping the cap off. Squirting some on her hand, she put the tube back on the bedside table and stared down at his erection.

"You realize that you're going to have to try and control that while you're healing," she stated. While he groaned at the prospect of being lectured, she placed a hand on him for the very first time. Trying to be as clinical as possible, she applied the cream to his penis and then to the outlying burned skin. Naturally she spent a bit more time on his member. She wasn't made of stone and she had been fantasizing about handling and fondling him, among other activities, for a very long time. He felt magnificent and it only increased her desire for him. She cursed that she was once again going to be spending much more time with her favorite vibrator that night than she really wanted to, or possibly right after she got done dealing with this, taking care of her surging arousal.

"Now how the hell am I going to do that, Bones?" he whined. "We had a very deep conversation while you were in your bathtub the other night, and then spent the whole night on the couch talking with you naked under the towel. Then I wake up to find I was copping a feel in my sleep. Then this morning I come out onto the deck and you're bare assed wanting me to rub suntan lotion on your back. Do you have any idea what kind of images are running around in my mind constantly now?" he continued.

"I could wear a nuns habit and be covered head to foot," she spat, though she was amused with the idea that she was constantly invading his thoughts.

"Won't work," he said, clearly taking her seriously since he was too keyed up from the pain to think straight.

"A nun's habit turns you on?" she asked incredulously. Sure she'd always enjoyed role playing and an adventurous sex life, but how could a woman completely covered be a turn on?

Booth looked at her incredulously. "Are you nuts, Bones? I'd be thinking of playing out the old Catholic School Girl fantasy if you wore that," he groaned.

Now she smiled widely. "I knew you were kidding when you spoke out so vehemently against sexual role playing," she said proudly.

"Now Bones," he defended himself. "I was talking about that freak show we were investigating. Now that was just downright sick. They were idiotic perverted fucks." He moved slightly right then and let out a yelp of pain.

"Well far be it from me to keep you so aroused when it's too painful to enjoy," she teased as she stood up. "I'll be taking a little nap for a bit and I suggest you do the same."

Booth groaned as she left the room. He looked up. "This is my reward?" he asked God. "A dick that's burnt to a crisp and a girlfriend who gives me a hard on if she's simply sitting at a desk looking at a computer screen? Now this is your old pal Seeley Booth here begging you for a little bit of help. I swear that I'll be in confession as soon as I can put some pants on, and even put up with Father Mitch thinking I'm a sex pervert. My one and only chance with Bones is going down in flames pretty quick here." After his agonized plea for some kind of divine assistance he closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on something other than the part of his body that was screaming in pain.

Bones had heard his quiet plea and chuckled all the way back to her bedroom to get her laptop so she could spend time in the library working on a new chapter for her book. The nap could wait until she had some other things taken care of. She decided that she could spend some time with her vibrator that night when the tension was a bit more stretched and she could have a really powerful set of orgasms. She would, however, have to set him straight on one item, though. His shot with her was already successful and she was not going anywhere. Maybe that would ease his mind a bit. Granted, she was still upset over his Alpha Male antics of that morning, but she didn't want him worked up over things that weren't even in question.

Booth woke up about two hours later to his cell phone ringing on the bedside table next to him. He groaned in pain as he reached over to grab it, but flipped it open after seeing who was calling him. Hodgins.

"Yeah?" he said with a sigh.

_"Dude, you sure know how to kill a trip,"_ Hodgins said with a laugh. _"That's almost as bad as when a baby turtle clamped down on my scrotum when I was at the beach in Virginia a few years ago. Thank God the little guy missed my balls on that one."_

"I'd have to say having my dick burnt to within a millimeter of its life is a bit worse, Hodgins," Booth muttered. "How would you like it if every time you saw Angela you had to fight the hard on that wants to rise up and salute because it was like someone was kicking you in the nuts every second your hard on was there?"

_"I'll leave that one to you, G-Man,"_ Hodgins chuckled. _"Hey did you see Dr. B's new bikini? Angela said she helped her pick it out."_

"Yes," Booth said. "And before you ask, no one is ever going to see that on her but me. I may have to put up with being called an Alpha Male Neanderthal, but there are some things that have to be kept secret. Bones in that bikini is one of them."

_"You know how Dr. B will react of she ever hears you talking like that,"_ Hodgins chuckled.

"Don't I know it," Booth sighed. He winced as he considered the ass kicking he would get, verbal or otherwise, from Bones if she heard him. "Hey, Hodgins, you don't by any chance have something that can speed up the healing process a bit, and also get rid of the excruciating pain? I'm dying here, man."

_"What did the Doctor give you?" _Hodgins asked. He listened as Booth told him the name of the creams and lotions, as well as the ingredients. He nodded. _"Those are about the best that's out there for what you have," _he told his friend. _"I do have a salve that is a bit better and has a mild anesthetic in it. I can overnight it to you out there."_

"Thanks Hodgins," Booth said gratefully. "Anything that helps is greatly appreciated."

_"No problem, Booth," _Hodgins said. _"I better get off of here before Ange comes looking for me. Later."_

Booth sighed as he raised his head and looked down at his fried appendage. He shook his head in disbelief. How could such an incredible opportunity to really connect with Bones after the unbelievable prior two days, two days in which they'd admitted their feelings for one another, turn into such a damn nightmare?

While Booth was speaking with Hodgins, Bones was talking to Angela. She'd managed to write about half of the chapter she had outlined in her mind so far, but then set it aside to speak to her friend again.

_"So Booth seems to like a bit of role playing, huh?"_ Angela laughed.

"He does," Bones smiled. Angela knew more about her sexual history than anyone, though Booth came a close second. "I think you and I need to go shopping when we get back," she told Angela.

_"Anything in particular in mind?"_ Angela asked knowingly.

"He did mention the Catholic School Girl fantasy," Bones admitted. She'd actually done that one before with a previous lover and while she hadn't particularly cared for the dominant submissive aspect of it favoring the man, she had enjoyed the pure, raw sexuality of it. "I was thinking of making it a bit racier by using the outfit as a costume for a stripper routine in private, as long as he returns the favor and does a strip routine for me."

_"Oh my God,"_ Angela said loudly. _"Booth'll have a stroke! And then a very steamy lap dance to finish him off?"_ Ange asked wickedly. _"You sure you won't share that sexy FBI hunk of yours?" _she teased.

"I was also thinking of getting some really sexy new lingerie and some outfits, like a nurses costume," Bones added, ignoring the teasing question her somewhat wild friend had posed. "Want to help?"

"_Try and stop me, Girl!"_

"We can go when we get back," Bones told her. "I'm not sure when that's going to be at the moment since Booth has to heal enough to be able to put some pants on before we can leave."

_"That's okay,"_ Angela laughed. _"So when are you going to rock his world?"_

That phrase Bones knew, thankfully. "Not for awhile, Ange," she replied. "I actually agree with Booth that we need to work out some issues first, despite how frustrating it is. My vibrator's going to be getting some serious attention this trip."

_"Why don't you torment your boyfriend and put on a little show for him one night?" _Angela giggled. She recalled when she'd done that for Hodgie the first time and then man had nearly had a stroke. As it was, he came in his pants before she'd even touched him after her 'performance'.

"Now that would be cruel, Ange," Bones said with a smile. The idea had some appeal for her, as she was a bit of an exhibitionist with the men she was involved with, but for right now Booth needed less stimulating activities. "I've got to go, Ange. I need to check on Booth and change the dressing on his chest wound."

_"Are you going to be able to handle that, Sweetie?"_ Angela immediately sobered up.

"It won't be easy, but I think so, Ange," Bones replied. "I'll call you tomorrow."

Bones gathered the supplies she thought she would need, including some steri-strips in case the wound was suppurating, and made her way to his room. Considering the nature of this mornings 'accident' she was thankful that she had given him his own room instead of sharing her bed with him. They'd slept in the same bed for the last two nights after the night on the couch, but she had been in a nightgown and he had had his sweat pants on. If he was sure that it was not the right time to have sex, then she was not about to be overly pushy by insisting on sharing a bed on vacation in a secluded venue.

"Booth?" she asked as she walked into the room. She saw him snapping his cell phone shut. Looking over his body she was pleased for his sake that he was not aroused, or at least showing the physical evidence of arousal.

"Yeah?" he said in a tired voice.

She smirked a bit. The initial medication the Doctor had given him must still be making him a bit groggy. "I came to change your dressing and see if you needed more ointment," she told him as she sat on the edge of the bed nearest to his gunshot wound and set the medical supplies on the bedside table.

"I don't need anymore ointment for a while, or are you just trying to cop a feel?" he teased with a smile.

"Feeling frisky, huh?" she shot back with a smile of her own. At least his sense of humor was back.

"I'd have to be dead and buried not to be frisky around you, Bones," he sighed as he looked at her, despite her being covered from the neck down rather conservatively. "Sorry," he apologized when he saw her face pale a bit at the 'dead and buried' comment.

"It's only a figure of speech," she brushed it aside, though she knew that inside the phrase would always have this effect on her. Those two weeks without him and thinking he'd been dead would always haunt her, despite her attempts to tell him and Sweets that she had compartmentalized it all during that time. It had been a very thin, and ridiculous lie that she was sure Booth had seen through instantly. Why else would she have decked him at the funeral, and then angrily confronted him again while he was in his bathtub?

"You don't have to do this, Bones," Booth said as he gestured to his bandaged wound. He decided to let the other subject drop as it would only make things worse at this point.

Bones put out a hand and placed it on his shoulder, gently keeping him still. "Yes, I do," she told him firmly in a serious tone. "It will allow me to really believe that the last two weeks are really in the past, Booth. I'll also know for myself that you're really okay."

When Booth nodded, she began. Instead of ripping the dressing off, since he had mentioned possible suppuration, she eased it off, thankful that he was not a man with a hairy chest. The wound was indeed suppurating, and the dressing had a slightly bloody discharge on it. Quelling her small wave of nausea, she took the peroxide and a sterile pad, cleaning the wound quickly and efficiently. She also used three steri strips to close the suppuration, which while not severe, or all that uncommon, should be closed. Finally she put a new outer dressing on the wound. She bagged the unsanitary remains of the prior dressing.

"You should have seen a Doctor about the suppuration," she remarked when all was finished.

"It wasn't too bad until I shot the Gormagon," he admitted. "After that..." he shrugged.

Bones nodded, allowing his explanation, though she knew that it wasn't completely accurate. She placed a hand on his chest, just above his heart. "There's something I need you to know," she told him. "I heard you when you were praying earlier. You were wrong, Booth. You're only chance with me is not in question, and certainly not in any kind of jeopardy. I may be a bit angry with you for this morning, and when you are in better condition we will discuss some of your more disturbing Alpha Male tendencies, but this is for keeps. I'm done hiding behind sex and work and lies about what you mean to me to keep from stepping over that damn line you drew. That line no longer exists, I hope you know. I will seriously hurt you if you even joke about it," she added, trying to inject a touch of levity, but her tone would tell him she was deadly serious, despite the humor.

"I know," he replied, looking deep into her eyes. He was embarrassed that she'd heard his somewhat petulant plea to God, but he was also very warmed to know that she was with him no matter what.

"Good," she said with a small smile. "I may make a lot of mistakes along the way, Booth, but I want to try and make this work. Despite the sunburn and the limiting effects it will have on you, I want us to enjoy the time here and really work out some of the issues that we have. For now, though, I want you to get some more rest. The medication should wear off this evening and I'll bring in some dinner. After that we can sit here and watch a movie."

He'd been shown the nice plasma screen television in the cabinet along the opposite wall with the great sound system and DVD player. He assumed she had some movies that they could both enjoy. "Sounds great Bones," he answered.

Bones leaned down and kissed him softly, not letting it deepen. Now was not the time for that. "I'll be back later. Yell if you need me for anything, okay?" she said.

Booth nodded as the effects of the medication began pulling him down again.

"Stupid Alpha Male tendencies," Bones muttered as she laughingly walked out of the room.

_A/N: So how was it? It wasn't quite like the previous chapters, but I wanted some foundation for the rest of the trip to work with, so here it is. I'm trying to add in Hodgins and Angela to the story line as much as possible, so that they can be involved in later chapters once the trip is concluded. I'm also trying to include Parker in a reasonable way. Hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Gregg._


	5. Chapter 5

_Sorry about the delay in getting this out, but it wrote very slowly, and is a bit on the serious side, with a touch of humor put in. I hope that this format of trying to have a singular issue, or fear, per chapter, being dealt with in some manner, is working for the audience. Reviews always welcome._

_Disclaimer: I don't own, or profit from, these characters or franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

Bones smiled as she watched Booth slowly make his way into the large main living room of the "cabin". He was wearing a hospital gown since he'd refused to put on a mu-mu under any circumstances. That had been the day before, so she had had some gowns sent to the cabin and he had been wearing them since. It had been three days since his little "accident" as he liked to call it, and this was the first day that he was really getting out of his room. Despite the mild anesthetics in the lotions and creams she was putting on the "damaged" areas, he was in quite a lot of pain. The one bright moment came that morning when he came out of the bedroom wearing the hospital gown, but it had been not been tied in the back. As she had been talking on her cell phone with Ange at the time, she quickly stepped behind him and snapped a picture of his bare ass sticking out of the back. Angela had squealed so loud on the phone that Booth had even heard it.

"Doing any better?" she asked with a smile. He'd managed a short shower just now, but the water had had to be pretty cool in order to stand it on the sunburned area. Booth had complained that he'd had enough cold showers since he'd met her, and that this was only adding insult to injury in his opinion. She'd simply laughed and walked out of the bathroom having made sure he could manage on his own. Her concerns had been more on his still healing gunshot wound than his sunburn.

"Just peachy," Booth groaned as he took a step down into the sunken living room. "Every step feels like I'm being skinned alive down there."

Bones watched him carefully as he lowered himself down onto a long sofa and laid across it. She had been cataloging in her mind all his movements and examining him for any indication of problems. "Do you need me to change your dressing?" she asked.

"If you don't mind," he said with a sigh of relief. At least he could get some relief from her light, but sure, touch. He only had to make sure he didn't let his mind wander into the gutter and get an erection, which still hurt like a son-of-a-bitch.

Bones went and got the supplies needed to change the dressing. That first time she'd changed it she'd managed while in there with him, but when she left his side so he could sleep, she'd rushed to her bathroom and promptly thrown up. After throwing up a second time, she'd cleaned up and then huddled on her bed for a time crying. The very fact of his mortality staring up at her, and the horrific memories of the two weeks she had thought he was dead, were too much for her. She could hold it together when she was with him, because Booth needed her to be strong, but inside she had been a wreck. It still wasn't much better for her, but she was no longer nauseous and was not having anymore crying fits.

When she came out into the living room with the supplies she walked over to him. He had taken off the hospital gown already and was laying there naked. Her more lascivious thoughts were forced down by the more logical ones as she knelt beside him and removed the old dressing. The wound was sealing nicely now, and only had minor suppuration.

"This is coming along very well," she told him as she cleaned the small amount of drainage. "Is it feeling any better?"

"Quite a bit," he replied, his eyes closed. "So did Angela enjoy the picture of my bare ass you snuck?"

Bones laughed. "She enjoyed it as much as I enjoy looking at it, Booth. You have a perfect ass," she told him. She leaned down and whispered. "But I, at least, get to see it live and not just in a picture."

"My Mother would be so proud, Bones," he chuckled. "Seeley Booth, exhibitionist and porno model."

Bones decided to tease him a bit. "You know, a nude photo portfolio of you wouldn't be a bad birthday gift for me," she told him. "It would give me something to hold my attention at night when you're away on cases we don't work on together."

"I don't think so, Bones," he replied with a short laugh. "You've seen all the goods and you have a photographic memory." He tried desperately to avoid the mental images of her pleasuring herself while looking at naked photos of him.

"Spoilsport," she shot back playfully. "It would have been the perfect chance to use my new digital camera."

"This is nice, Bones," he commented when he stopped chuckling.

"What is?" she asked as she placed the new covering on the wound.

"Being able to joke around like this," he observed.

"We've always been able to joke around with each other," she said, slightly confused. She hadn't removed her hands from the area of his wound, yet, and felt along his well defined chest. That was something else that was now commonplace. Each time she changed the dressing, she tended to keep her hands on his chest for a time afterwards, as if reassuring herself that he was still alive and well with her. He hadn't said anything about it so far, and she was not willing to end that bit of comforting confirmation.

"But we've always been pretty careful when we do," Booth pointed out. "Sure sometimes we'd go a bit far, but mostly it was without any real deeper meanings."

Bones nodded in understanding. "It is nice," she agreed. She looked down a his, now covered, sunburn. "Need anymore lotion?" she asked. It had been a few hours, after all.

Booth smirked a bit. "Can't get enough of me, huh?" he teased. He loved the small blush that appeared on her cheeks.

"I love my work," Bones shot back with a wink. She may be a slight bit flustered with his teasing, which in itself was unusual, but she was not going to let him get the best of her. "And you are a _lot_ of work, Seeley Booth."

Booth admitted defeat in his own mind, though his Alpha Male side to his personality was mentally strutting at the innuendo. "I'm fine, Bones," he told her.

Bones knew that he was doing much better, discomfort and lack of ease in movement aside. The skin tone on the sunburn was now a bright red instead of the dark, burnished red of a couple pf days ago. That alone was a relief to her as she hated seeing him with such an angry injury, though it was his own damn fault.

"Do you mind if I go do some work on my book for awhile?" she asked. "I can bring you in some snacks for while you lay here and watch the game," she offered.

"That'd be great Bones," he said with a smile. As much as he loved watching games with her, especially Hockey, he wanted to watch this baseball game without having to explain the rules so often since it was a really good match up.

Half an hour later Bones' cell phone chimed. She smiled. It was the specific chime that she'd programmed for Rebecca's phone since she had told Booth's ex that it was okay for her or Parker to call her at anytime. Rebecca has called a few times checking on how Booth was, and Parker had called twice.

"Hello?" she said as she saved the portion of the new chapter that she had just written.

_"Hi, Bones!" _Parker said in that excited tone he used. _"How are you today?"_

"I'm doing very well, thank you," she told him. She talked to him like any other person, that is as an adult, and she knew that while she had to sometimes explain some things to him, he loved that she thought so highly of him not to talk patronizingly to him. "What are you doing? I would have thought you'd be out with your friends."

_"I just got back from church camp,"_ Parker told her. She remembered that he was attending a morning camp for a few weeks that the Catholic Church sponsored. Booth had been pleased that Parker was going to it, and she knew that he was also very happy that Rebecca had always maintained a dedicated religious upbringing for Parker. _"I'm going to have some lunch and then go to Tommy's to __play in his tree fort."_

"I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun, Parker," Bones said with a smile. The more she spoke with Parker this week, the more she would look forward to his calls.

_"Is Daddy doing better?" _came Parker's next question.

Bones wanted to laugh, but held it in. Parker had been told that his Father had gotten a really bad sun burn, but not where he'd been burned, so it wouldn't do to make fun of it with Parker. "The burn is healing nicely, Parker," she let him know. It was the truth, so she had no problem saying that. She still had issues with lying to kids about anything, but she was a bit more flexible than she had been in the past. Another thing to thank Both for.

_"You're taking care of him, aren't you, Bones?"_ Parker asked, deadly serious. In his opinion if Bones was caring for his Father, then it would be okay really soon. Bones was the best in his opinion and knew everything.

"Even when he's being a bad patient," Bones assured him. She had always wondered how Parker always seemed to have such confidence in her. That was something she would have to ask Booth about.

_"Good," _Parker said after a minute. _"Can I call again tomorrow, Bones?"_

Parker asked that every time he called, and she was secretly thrilled that he wanted to talk with her. From the first time she'd met Booth's son, she'd really liked Parker, and enjoyed being able to talk with him.

"Of course you can," she assured him.

_"Cool," _Parker said. _"Good bye, Bones."_

"Good bye, Parker," she said as they hung up. Smiling, she went back to work on her book.

Bones came into the living room just as the game was ending. She noticed that Booth had finished off the whole tray of snacks she had prepared. In deference to his carnivorous side, she had even added meat to the tray of snack to go along with the cheese and crackers. She had rounded it off with some carrot and celery sticks to satisfy her desire to see him eat healthier. He'd even finished all of those. The three empty beer bottles on the coffee table told her that he had paced himself very well on the beer.

"Good game?" she asked as she took a seat across from him.

"_Great_ game, Bones," he smiled at her with her favorite charm smile. "The Phillies won 5-4 in eleven innings."

"I'll take your word for it," she chuckled, not wanting to have him explain all she didn't understand about what he had just told her.

"Get much done on your book?" he asked.

"One full chapter and part of the next," she replied, taking in his relaxed appearance. He seemed more comfortable than he was before.

"Can I read it?" he asked just like he always did.

"When it comes out in the bookstores like everyone else," she told him, again just like always. She decided to ask him something that had been bothering her for as long as she had known him, and while they had debated the subject, they had never really had a genuine discussion about it. "How does a person have faith?" she asked.

Booth raised on brow in surprise. "Bones?" he asked, with a slightly warning lilt to his voice.

She knew what he was worried about, and tried to reassure him. "I'm not talking about any specific element of faith, Booth," she told him quickly. "I'm speaking more generally. How does a person have faith in something, or someone?"

Booth tried to fathom what she was trying to figure out. Obviously something was bothering her, though she didn't seem upset about anything. "I think it depends on how a person actually defines faith, Bones," he started. "What faith is for me may be something totally different for you."

"But that's the problem," she tried again. "I don't believe in faith, but I know you do. I want to understand how a person can have faith."

That threw him. In the past she had always had derogatory things to say because the faith in question was about something specific, usually religion and faith in God. This was much broader in scope, and infinitely more complicated. At the same time, paradoxically, it was much simpler and finite. The intangibles. That was the key.

"How do you rationalize something that has no empirical evidence to support it?" he asked. "What makes you believe something with that kind of circumstance?"

"Scientifically you can't rationalize it," she said instantly, but she thought she saw what he was getting at. "Your gut," she directed at him, making him reply to something.

He nodded. "It's a feeling, Bones, that comes from a word, a phrase, a sudden clarity of thought that just makes sense," he explained. "Do I know that God exists? Of course not, in the empirical sense, but on the inside, in my gut, I know he does. The sheer complexity of the world around me, hell the whole universe, is so staggering that the idea of random sequences of events simply makes no sense to me, but a higher power does."

"What makes you have faith in me?" she asked. She had just made the subject extremely personal, but the way in which he had been there for her in the aftermath of the revelation about Zack had made her realize in a much stronger way the kind of belief in her that he had.

"Your honesty," he replied after a moment, not quite sure if he should answer her.

"I don't understand," she said with a confused look on her face.

"When we worked together for the very first time, you annoyed the hell out of me, Bones," he said as kindly as possible. "But something struck me, though. You never shirked from being exceedingly honest with me, no matter how much I may not have liked what you were saying. That to me let me know that while it may be a rough road, I could work with you and not worry about anything to do with the investigation, or the conclusions we drew. After that it was only a matter of time before you became my best friend, for largely the same reason."

"So nothing concrete, just some element of our interaction that you _felt_, for lack of a better word?" she asked.

"Exactly," he agreed. "Why are you bringing all this up?"

Bones looked a bit uneasy answering that, but decided to anyway. "Parker called me a bit ago and I was surprised, as I always am, at just how much he seems to trust me," she told him. "All week he's been implying that just the fact that I'm here with you making sure you're alright, will guarantee that you'll get better. I'm having trouble understanding that."

"Parker adores you, Bones, and he also hears me talking about you all the time," Booth tried to explain. "You treat him with respect, and he picks up on that. He has faith in me, as his Father, and he knows that I have faith in you, so he has faith in you from that also. Kids are rarely wrong in reading people, Bones, and they place their faith in the people who they have a good sense about, regardless of circumstances." He watched Bones nod, slightly noncommittally, but with a bit less doubt than she'd seemed to have at the beginning of the conversation. "Is there anyone you have faith in Bones?" he asked, not really sure if he wanted to know the answer since she may just reply she doesn't believe in faith.

Bones was torn. If anyone else, under different circumstances, had asked her that she would have either ran, or said what she always said about faith: that she didn't believe in the concept. But she had brought up the subject, and he had been willing to discuss it with her, despite the numerous arguments about it in the past. He deserved an answer. What's more, he'd earned an answer to that question. The entire week since he had come back from the dead had been a whirlwind, and their honest dealing with their true feelings for one another had broken down her fight or flight instincts when it came to him. That didn't mean she wasn't nervous, or mindful of her past when it came to getting so close to people, but Seeley Booth had always been someone to be an honest broker with.

She stood and then leaned over, kissing him lightly on the lips before standing straight. "You," she told him quietly. "I have faith in you, Booth," she repeated honestly. "Are you okay in here for a while?" she asked. "I need to do something."

Booth had been stunned. He'd figured that if she decided to answer the question she would say her Father. Despite everything, and the lost years, Max had proven himself to be someone who would do anything for his daughter, and his family. That deserved a great deal of faith in Booth's opinion.

"Yeah," he told her. "There's another game on in just a bit."

"I'll bring in some more food in a while," she nodded. Then she walked out of the room.

For a good time afterward, Bones sat in her office thinking about the conversation. She'd just faced one more fear, and that was the fear of being heart broken by having faith in someone, or rather, admitting to having faith in someone. The words spoken the previous Friday had been words of love, and deep caring, but not something as profound as faith. If she were to be completely honest, they had demonstrated that faith in that conversation on her couch, and in her bathroom, but today she had actually spoken the words. Still, though, there was something lacking in what had just been expressed. An idea occurred to her. Pulling out a sheet of paper, and a pen, she set to work.

That night Booth walked slowly into his room to go to bed. Bones had insisted on putting more lotion on his burn despite his assurance that he was fine. It was pretty humorous to hear her tell him that she was going to put rub more lotion on him whether he liked it or not. He didn't dare tease her, though, as it would be going pretty far to come out and accuse her, even if in a joking voice, that all she wanted to do was basically give him a hand job. Considering how eager she still was to begin a sexual, or rather intimate, relationship with him, he would have probably hit the nail right on the head if he'd said that. Better to keep his manhood safe from a pissed off girlfriend as deadly as Bones. As he sat down on the bed, he noticed an envelope on his pillow with his name written on it in Bones' distinctive, and elegant, script. He opened the envelope and took out a sheet of paper which had more handwriting on it. Turning on the bedside light, he read the letter.

_Dear Booth,_

_I'm sorry that I didn't elaborate on the answer to your question a little while ago. You deserve more than a short, pithy answer to such a large question, especially when the answer is so deeply personal between us._

_You said that you have faith in me because of my honesty. I'm not sure if it was honesty that I was expressing to you, or a reverence for the remains that are the basis for our cases, but if you believe that it was honesty, then I trust your opinion enough that I can accept that. That you feel that I am honest, which is a foundation for integrity and accomplishment, means more to me than I can possibly ever articulate. That you admitted that to me with no real expectation of receiving a positive response given my usual demeanor when it comes to personal issues, last Friday night aside, means the world to me._

_I have faith in you, Seeley Booth, because no matter what was happening, regardless of the danger we were facing, or if I was involved in any of my many sexual affairs since meeting you, or if you had every reason to hate me or be angry at me for my attitudes, you never once turned your back on me, or left me alone. I've hurt you countless times, I know, and I doubtless will again for any of a variety of reasons, but I know in my mind, and my heart, that the one real constant in my life, you, will be there. You give me a reason to have a bit of hope for the world around us, and a true purpose to my work and the skills I have._

_If this relationship works, and I am hoping that it will since I really do love you, I know that I have someone by my side, both professionally, personally, and intimately who will be able to give me the intangibles that I have always lacked, and the desire to be something more than I was. You've slowly taught me how to be a person, Booth, not just a mechanical woman who hides behind work and frivolous sex to escape the world around her and pretend to have a semblance of a life._

_Do you realize how grateful I am that you came to find me on that stair case last Friday after all that had happened with Zack? I was so horribly devastated when I realized that I had never really given Zack something physically tangible that I was ready to withdraw again and become who I was before you met me. You literally saved me from myself that night, Booth, this time taking a metaphorical bullet for me instead of a real one. The bullet was the painful reality of my fears._

_I could probably say more, and should, but those words need to be spoken aloud, not written on paper. I may have been discourteous when I abruptly left the living room when we were really breaking through on the subject, but I sincerely hope you will grant me the courtesy of addressing the topic again sometime soon. _

_With all the love of my heart, and my head,_

_Temperance_

"I thought you should know," Bones said from the doorway as he finished reading the letter.

"Bones," Booth tried to say when he looked up and saw her.

She held up her hand. "When you're better and we can talk about this properly," she told him.

"Good night, Bones," he said with a sigh.

Bones smiled. She knew he would want to continue, but she wanted him well when they had this deeper discussion. "Good night, Booth," she said as she pulled the door closed and headed to her own room.

_A/N: Maybe a bit anticlimactic, but I want to use this story to work through some thoughts and issues that I feel that the two of them would have as a relationship begins, or becomes possible. I hope that you all enjoy these discussions and I would love to read any comments or reactions you may have. Gregg. _


End file.
